In Our Towns

FARMINGTON -- A 13-year-old girl has been charged with criminal impersonation for posing as a local teacher and posting fictitious information on a webpage on Myspace.com, police said Tuesday.

Authorities did not identify the teen because she is a juvenile.

A teacher reported the crime after students alerted him to it and questioned the content. According to investigators, the site also included inappropriate content in the ``teacher's'' profile.

Prosecutors recommended the charges after a two-week investigation that began Oct. 12, police said.

Myspace.com has since deleted the site, police said.

Alzheimer's Victim Found

GRANBY -- A 76-year-old man who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and walked away from his home Monday morning was found Tuesday morning after spending nearly 24 hours outdoors, police said.

Ralph Kuster was spotted in a backyard on Moosehorn Road about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, and the homeowners called police, said Police Chief David Watkins.

Kuster had some minor scratches and complained of being cold, according to police. He was taken by ambulance to Hartford Hospital and was in stable condition Tuesday afternoon.

Local police and fire authorities, with help from state police, began searching for Kuster after he was reported missing from his home near the Hartland town line Monday morning. He was believed to have left on foot about 9 a.m., wearing sneakers, pants, a long-sleeved shirt, a baseball cap and a heavy winter jacket.

Watkins said Kuster was found about a half-mile from his home in an area where the terrain is steep and woods are dense.

``We're very fortunate to have the outcome we did,'' Watkins said.

Woman Named To Panel

SIMSBURY -- Polly Parker of West Simsbury has been named to the state's Child Day Care Council, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Tuesday.

The council makes recommendations to the Commissioners of Social Services and Public Health and Addiction Services regarding child-care licensing standards and on planning for child-care services.

Parker has been an associate professor of education at Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield since 1999.

The Child Day Care Council also studies issues affecting child daycare and makes recommendations to the General Assembly. It also is an advisory committee to the Department of Social Services in the development of the state child-care plan.

Graffiti Criticizes Blue Back

WEST HARTFORD -- Police are investigating an incident in which someone scrawled graffiti criticizing the Blue Back Square development on one of the development buildings and on sidewalks and another building in West Hartford Center.

The graffiti was first reported on about a half-dozen locations on Thursday, Sgt. Tracey Gove said. In each instance, ``bad progress'' was scrawled next to a picture of a blue square.

The graffiti was scrawled on the Blue Back Square building that will house Healthtrax.

Campaign Sign Taken From Yard

WEST HARTFORD -- A 12-foot-tall campaign sign featuring a photo of 5th Senate District candidate Kimberly Ryder was taken from a yard on Boulevard. Police are investigating.

Ryder told police she put up the sign, which cost $300, on Sunday at approximately 3 p.m. The owner of the house at 1465 Boulevard gave her permission, she said. A friend noticed the sign was missing at 4 p.m. Monday.

In a press release issued Tuesday, Ryder said the sign means more than the money it's worth.

``My campaign team, including my father and young sisters, put hard physical labor into putting up the portraits,'' she said in the press release. ``I have received numerous compliments about how nice the signs are, especially because my picture is the prominent feature. Apparently, my portraits have become collector's items.''

Deliveryman Assaulted, Robbed

HARTFORD -- A deliveryman for a Chinese restaurant was robbed of cash and food Monday by six teenagers on Capitol Avenue, city police said.

Police said the worker, with China House restaurant on Farmington Avenue, was attempting to deliver an order of food about 6:30 p.m. Monday when he was accosted.

Police said one of the youths punched him in the face and the other five searched his pockets. They stole $100 and the Chinese food he was carrying before they fled, police said.

Masked Man Takes Cash, Phone

HARTFORD -- A city man was robbed of cash, jewelry and a cellular telephone Monday morning at Capen and Vine streets in Hartford's North End, police said.

Police said the victim was walking south on Vine Street about 8:30 a.m. Monday when a man approached him from behind and put an unidentified object to his head. The man robbed him of $200, a gold ring and his telephone, police said.

The victim was not injured during the robbery.

Police said the robber was wearing a mask, a blue jean jacket and black gloves.